The Ten Commandments of Using Streaming Audio On Your Website

When it comes to placing audio on your website there are Ten Commandments you absolutely must follow. Break one of these Commandments and you can watch your website drive visitors away faster than the speed of sound. Fortunately, if you follow the Ten Commandments you can get people to stay at your website longer, inquire about your product or service more often, and even buy more of what you are selling. Doesn't that sound good?

So without further ado, here are the Ten Commandments you must follow when placing audio on your website.

Commandment #1

Don't set your audio to play automatically when people arrive at your website. Your visitors all have different computers with different speakers, some have the volume turned all the way up, some are already listening to music, some don't even have speakers to begin with. If you start playing your audio automatically you risk losing potential customers. It's much easer to leave a website or hit the back button then it is to search around for how to turn off your audio. One exception to this Commandment is the use of pop-up windows. Pop-up windows can be closed by the visitor yet they still leave them at your website. The same goes for exit pop-ups, these windows can be very effective at grabbing the visitors attention, although some people may not like it, it has proven to be very successful in some uses.

Commandment #2

Sounding like a Pro! You must have professional sounding audio on your site. Anything else will make you look like an amateur. If you are showcasing your own poetry, or telling a personal story, or marketing yourself, then you should use your own voice. But, if you are trying to sell something and your voice doesn't quite cut it, then have a professional voiceover person record your audio. It will make all the difference. You can find a list of affordable voiceover professionals at www.web-audio-reviews.com/voiceover.htm

Commandment #3

When using audio to sell or promote, keep it short! Long audio messages have their place online and rarely are they on the main page of a website. Keep your messages short, concise, to the point, and easy to follow. This can make all the difference in your audio message. Try to keep your promotional audio message around 30 to 90 seconds. Commercials are only 30 seconds and get their point across very well, follow their lead and do the same thing.

Commandment #4

Be prepared! If you or someone else is recording your audio then write out a script. Write out a complete word for word script, practice it out loud and change it as necessary. If you just "wing it" then it will sound like it. Have others listen and critique your script before you record it. Fine tune your script by removing unnecessary wording, trimming down the overall length, and wording it for maximum impact.

Commandment #5

When recording your own audio, smile! It will come across in your voice. But remember, if you don't sound like a pro even when you smile, then get one!

Commandment #6

Don't overload your site with audio. If you have too many audio buttons to choose from most people will choose none. Whereas when you only have a few audio buttons on your website it will encourage people to listen to your audio message. A single audio button done right is usually enough to get your point.

Commandment #7

Use music! Using music in addition to your voice will make your audio sound 100 times more professional and engaging. Add some easy listening intro music that fits the theme of your site, even sound effects if done right can make a tremendous difference in the way your message sounds. Remember to use music that is royalty free or music you have rights to use. Placing your favorite Beatles song on your website could get you in trouble. You can find several royalty free music resources here. www.web-audio-reviews.com/royalty-free-music.htm

Commandment #8

Have a point! This may sound obvious, but many people place audio on their website just because they can and for no other reason. No one cares about how fancy your audio is if it doesn't have much of a point to it. Have a purpose and reason for using audio.

Commandment #9

Tell people to listen to your audio! Just having an audio button on your website isn't good enough. You need to tell people what they will hear, what it's about, how long it is, and where to click to listen. Don't assume people will figure it out on their own, people need to be told what to do online, and the same goes for telling them to listen to your audio. Also, by telling visitors the length of your message they won't be afraid to listen to it because they will know how long it is. Research has shown that sometimes people will not listen to an audio message in fear that it may be too long. If it is a long message then tell your visitors so they will be prepared for an hour long audio message.

Commandment #10

Test your audio! Don't just place audio on your website thinking it will increase sales. Test it out, get opinions from your visitors, friends, and family, and then do split testing. Find out if the sales are greater with your audio. If you don't split test your site with different audio messages and without audio then you will never know if it's helping or hurting your website.

To place streaming audio on your site, as well as find a wealth of information, voiceover professionals, hosting, tools, and more, visit www.web-audio-reviews.com

Copyright Digital Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved

Publishing and Re-Print Guidelines:

The article text, resource box, URLs and copyright information must be left intact and unchanged. When re-published online, all links must be live hyperlinks. This article may not be distributed in any manner that does not comply with federal communication guidelines. This article must not be password protected or limited to membership or paid-only viewing. This article must remain free. These guidelines should NOT be included when re-publishing this article.

Mascom Wireless makes 3G and 3.5G product offerings Sunday Standard, Botswana - 15 hours ago “The remaining service that can be offered in addition includes, video/audio streaming, mobile TV which is online broadcasting, High Speed push-email as ...

Sensory's BlueGenie Voice Interface(TM) Powers First Voice ... MarketWatch - Aug 26, 2008 BlueAnt's product portfolio includes hands-free, stereo audio streaming and wireless communication products offering cutting-edge technology, ...

The Air This Week Boston Globe, United States - Aug 26, 2008 Schedules and dial-ups for audio-streaming sites worldwide are available at www.publicradiofan.com and classwebcast.googlepages.com/Station_ Listings.html . ...

Marauders Open Football Season Under the Lights Thursday Night ... University of Mary, ND - 14 hours ago Audio streaming of U-Mary football and basketball games is also available free online. Go to www.umary.edu/marauderslive for further information. ...

Grooveshark Autoplay: Pandora for the rest of us The Inquisitr, Australia - 21 hours ago However, Pandora (despite its brilliance) hasn’t been available outside of the United States now for over a year, so great contextual audio streaming has ...

Meet the Squeezebox’s big brother PC Pro, UK - Aug 6, 2008 We love the Squeezebox Duet even more - when it comes to audio streaming its difficult to imagine a device as intuitive and gorgeous coming along to topple ...

OOIDA taking trucker issues to mainstream Land Line Magazine, MO - Aug 25, 2008 It’s great that so many radio programs have audio-streaming.” A common request Taylor receives is for “a trucker to talk to.” Sometimes it is something as ...

Wi-Fi radio roundup San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - Aug 4, 2008 The good: Reliable wireless audio streaming; stylish design; built-in lithium battery with four hours of battery life; solid connections, ...

CNET Crave Blog

The LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Player CNET Crave Blog - Aug 1, 2008 When it's released in the fall, the LG BD300 will be the first Blu-ray player that will also have access to Netflix's online Watch Now library of streaming ...

Making sense of 3G speeds Macworld, CA - Aug 19, 2008 After spending weeks with a loaner iPhone 3G, I don’t bad mouth it: the faster speed is quite nice, especially with audio streaming iPhone applications, ...